I hear it a lot from my audiences. The challenge of keeping employees motivated and focused exists from Fortune 500 companies to mom & pop shops.

And if you’re like most Executives, you’ve tried addressing the elusive motivational issue by hiring a 5 or even 6-figure management guru in the past.

But what happened?

One client described it like this: They came in, completed their training, and left everyone feeling warm and fuzzy inside. But.... 90 days after the training:

THEY REVERTED BACK TO THEIR OLD HABITS!

But why?

And how can you change this?

We’ve spent 25 years looking at this and arrived at one conclusion.

We’re too motivation-centric.

In other words, we’re spending so much time on motivational methods (speakers, posters, coffee mugs, and coaching), that we miss what really matters. And that is simply, what will drive employees to perform even when they’re NOT motivated. What would inspire them to suffer and sacrifice?

Because when you have a team that’s willing to suffer and sacrifice, you have an unstoppable team.

To do this you must have a “cause” that they’re willing to die for. We call it a Compelling Saga (a term we stole from the Nordic tribes).

Do you have a Saga? What is your language that inspires passion for YOUR strategic results that your people would be willing to suffer and sacrifice for it, and realize they NEED each other in order to achieve it.